Because It's FateYou'll Find Me
by gh3472
Summary: Inspired by a flash fic from RTN...my take on when Jason finds Elizabeth in the rain


This was inspired by a flash fic prompt from RTN...This is my take on Jason finding Elizabeth in the rain.

**Because It's Fate…You'll Find Me**

**Prompt: Elizabeth locks herself out of the car after getting a flat tire in the rain.**

**She couldn't believe she did this. It was pouring rain and here she was with a flat tire, her purse with her cell phone and her keys in the car! How stupid and absent minded could she be?! She knew the reason. She knew why she had been walking through the daily routine of what she was calling her life; feeling miserable and at her wits end. It was a miracle she woke up every morning and the only reason she did was because she had her two boys who needed her. Her boys. Her children. As much as she loved them, it pained her to look at them and be reminded of what her life could have been but turned out to be…**

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**_It was a month ago when he proposed to her. It was a month ago that she felt truly happy. It was a month ago when all of her dreams came true. It was a month ago when she decided her happiness was worth fighting for. It was a month ago when she made the choice to not let fear dictate her life. It was a month ago when he told her he wanted to be with her. He wanted to marry her…_**

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**She couldn't dwell on that now. She was freezing and it was dark. She was in the middle of nowhere; miles from the nearest gas station. Lucky had the boys for the night so at least she didn't have to worry about getting home to them or picking them up for her grandmother's house. She pulled her collar up around her neck and started walking. **

**"_Shit!" she thought to herself. "It's fucking cold out here for the month of May!"_**

**She knew she was going to catch a cold. Her clothes were soaked through and she couldn't keep her teeth from chattering.**

**She had been walking for nearly a half an hour and not a single car drove by. ****_"You know the next time you choose to wander around aimlessly in your car, keep your damn cell phone in your pocket!" she said out loud to herself._**

**This was ridiculous. Ridiculous to the point that she started laughing to herself. ****_"God must really be trying to punish me." She thought._**** What was she doing? Where was she going? No one was going to find her. No one was going to help her. It was obvious to her, she was going to have to walk all the way back to Port Charles. And you know, it was probably better. She hadn't been sleeping. This would exhaust her and then she would have to sleep. She was definitely going to catch pneumonia…**

**After another 15 minutes of walking down the road, she removed her high heels. Her feet were killing her. As she was bending down to pick up her shoes from the road, she saw the flickering light of headlights in the distance. ****_"About damn time!" she thought. Someone was coming. "Thank God! Now let's hope they stop. I must look like a drowned cat!"_**

**As the light got closer she could hear the all too familiar roar of the engine. Her heart started to pound and instinctively she began chewing on her bottom lip. She tried to pull her hair out of her face and pull herself together. The pain in her chest started to increase. Her heart was hurting. She wasn't sure if seeing him was what she really wanted. Her head was screaming at her to duck and hide, but her heart was telling her to stay. Just to see him. Just to talk to him. The butterflies in her stomach were fluttering so badly she thought she would vomit. She hadn't been this nervous in almost a month…**

**-- **

**_She knew once they got the news that Michael was shot that all of her dreams died. They melted into an abyss so deep there was no way they would every surface again and become a reality. When she led him into her living room and he turned to look at her, the eyes that she'd grown to trust were in so much pain she didn't think she would be able to get through what he was about to say. The butterflies appeared in her stomach. She had an outer-body experience. She heard him reiterate the danger of his life and he wouldn't be selfish and risk bringing harm to her or her children. She wanted to scream. She wanted to pick up something and shatter it into a million pieces; just as heart was shattering. She didn't know how she was going to live without him…_**

**-- **

**The glow of the headlight grew larger. He was going fast. He was being reckless. She had watched him in his own private hell; shouldering all the blame and the guilt as he always did. He was a shell of a man; walking in and out of the hospital, day after day trying to be strong and supportive to everyone, but no one saw the hurt and devastation he was going through, except her. No one comforted him. No one was there for him to lean on; not that he would let anyone, but she so desperately wanted to be that person for him.**

**He was driving nowhere. He was alone. He didn't care about himself. He was trying to rid himself of the constant reminders of his failure as a man. He was more determined than ever to not let anything befall his son or the woman that he so desperately wanted to love. He saw her daily, moving through her responsibilities as a nurse. He knew he'd hurt her. He hadn't realized the wound he'd inflicted on her would affect him so profoundly. It was days like today where he needed her. He needed to see her eyes looking at him telling him everything would be alright. That she trusted him to make the right decisions. That she had faith in him. But he needed to stay away from her. He had to work through his own devastation alone and in his own way, even if the only way to do that was to ride fast and aimlessly. He didn't know where he was going. He just needed to get away. He was drawn to this stretch of road. For whatever the reason, there was a tug at his heart; it was the tug he got whenever he was about to see her. He tried to push it down. He couldn't handle the pain of knowing he wouldn't see her. His body was betraying him.**

**As he continued down the road, he couldn't tell if the water washing down his face was a result of just the rain or the tears he knew were spilling from his eyes. He'd just said goodbye to Michael, and he knew his life as he knew it would never be the same. Maybe he should leave Port Charles. Maybe he should just continue on this road and vanish. It would probably be easier than continuing to work for a man he could never forgive. But it was mostly because he knew he wouldn't be able to stay away from her. It would be too painful and difficult to watch her pick up the pieces of her life, fall in love with another man and raise their son without him. His heart pounded harder pulling him from his thoughts. He looked down the road. Someone was there… ****_"Elizabeth."_**

**She heard the motorcycle slow down. She saw the figure sitting on the back of the bike. She saw the eyes she had seen so many times before bloodshot and worn out. He kicked the kickstand down and swung his leg over the side of the bike. She couldn't feel the rain or the chill that was running through her body down to her bones. She was hot. She was flushed.**

**Every feeling they shared was warring with each other. The emotions were coursing through her body. She felt alive for the first time in a month.**

**He approached her apprehensively at first; not sure if she was real. Once he realized she was in fact real and not an image he conjured up, he looked up at the heavens and thanked God. He saw her shivering and sopping wet. His eyes met hers and the tears that were welling in them from the moment his gaze met hers spilled freely down her cheeks. She was gnawing on her lower lip and her breathing was heavy. He looked down her body, sending shockwaves through her, and saw every breath she took watching her chest rise and fall. He saw her hands clutching her collar and her shoes; her hands that he so desperately wanted to feel against his body. He saw her slim legs that he recalled being wrapped around his waist during the throws of passion. And her bare feet?**

**"_Eli…Elizabeth."_**** was all he managed to get out until her hands came up to his face and the sobs he'd been holding in wracked his body and spilled out.**

**She dropped her shoes, moved closer to him and pulled him into her embrace, ****_"Shhh…shhh. Jason, it's going to be alright. I'm here."_**** She kissed his forehead, his cheeks and finally his lips. Their lips fused into a kiss so filled with raw passion they both couldn't stop if they tried. But they didn't try. Their bodies instinctively reacted to one another. Tears flowing from both of them; both finding comfort in the other's embrace.**

**Jason finally regained some semblance of control and pulled back. His eyes had a shimmer of the gleam that had been there a month ago. ****_"What, what are you doing out here? You're soaking wet. You're freezing and," he had a hint of a smile, "you have no shoes on."_**

**He looked at her and watched her as the sadness of their situation was beginning to engulf her again. He couldn't bear to watch it overtake her again. He reached his hand out to her and she took it with all the trust she had in her to give, which he knew he didn't deserve. He put his helmet lovingly on her head and hopped on his bike. She willingly jumped on behind him and when he felt her arms slip around his waist he knew he was never letting her go again. He pulled her hands to his lips and kissed them reverently.**

**She pulled herself close to him; as close as their bodies would allow. She rested her cheek on his back and kissed the back of his neck before he started the engine and took off.**

**They took the cliff roads; both wanting to enjoy this time together. He felt her tensing up when he took a turn which would lead back to her home. She pulled her arms tighter conveying to him her need to stay with him just a little longer. He revved the bike and turned towards an all too familiar path. She let her tears continue to flow. When she felt the bike slowing down and he turned down the driveway, she relaxed her body a little bit more. The motorcycle came to a stop and she slipped off the back. He watched her move with grace as she removed the helmet and mussed her hair. He cut off the engine and dismounted from the bike. She reached her hand out to him and he took it in his. Their fingers intertwined and they walked together, slowly, towards their hidden sanctuary.**

**Jason knew this was wrong. He shouldn't be risking her or the boys like this. But he needed to be with her. He needed to feel her. He needed to love her if it was only for a little while.**

**Elizabeth felt the conflict he was fighting within himself. She felt him hesitate when they were entering the safe house. She held his hand tighter and pulled him closer to him. She needed to feel safe with him. She wanted to take care of him. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and fall asleep knowing she was loved by him. Even if it could only be for this one night.**

**"_Elizabeth," he started to say…_**

**She turned to look at him. His eyes heavy with guilt and sadness. She saw he was barely holding it together. She pulled him to her again, within the safety of their place and he cried. He collapsed on the sofa and cried. He cried for Michael. He cried for the lies he told himself about keeping the people he cared about safe. He cried for Jake, the son he would never get to know. But most of all he cried for the life he almost had with her but lost.**

**She wrapped him in her arms. She knew he needed this. He needed to let out what he had been holding in for the past month. He needed to know that she was there for him. That she would love him no matter what. It didn't matter that he tried to push her away. She knew their lives would always be connected. Their connection is so strong that neither one of them could deny it any longer. She knew she would convince him. He needed to know it would be pointless to try stay away. With every tear Jason shed, Elizabeth's determination grew stronger.**

**As he calmed down a bit, he turned to look at her and what he saw amazed him. There was no fear. There was not anger. There was no doubt or apprehension. There was love. There was trust. How could he break her again? How could he intentionally hurt her again? He couldn't push her away. He was stupid to think being apart would solve anything. The only thing it proved to him was how much not having her broke him. He'd been a broken man. He'd been a man walking around as a shadow of who he was. Elizabeth gave him strength. She gave him the will to live. He wasn't going to give up on them. He wasn't going to give up on the life he wanted with her. Even with all the danger, he was going to fight to be with her and he vowed there, to himself, looking into her eyes, he would die protecting her and their children.**

**"_Jason." She began, "You know I love you. You know I love you more than I could ever love another man. I need you to know something." She looked up at him and saw his eyes soften. "I'm not going to allow you to push me away again. I will NOT allow you to make decisions for me about what I want and who will make me happy. YOU MAKE ME HAPPY! I AM LOST WITHOUT YOU!" she said with a new found strength._**

**"_Are you done?" she nodded at him. He smiled at her. "I know this is going to be difficult…"_**

**"_Jason, if you think I am going to sit here with you while you try and push me away again, I'm going to get up and walk out of here." She told him. She stood up and started pacing, rubbing her hands together._**

**"_Could you come back here?" she turned to look at him. She nodded and came back to sit next to him on the sofa. "You didn't let me finish." He let out a breath. "What I wanted to tell you," he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "was I can't live without you. I was an absolute idiot to think that any of this would work. I love you more than my own life. I only want to live to see you and the boys happy. I will do everything I can to protect you from the dangers of my life. But I can't live another day without you. Being without you has shown me how empty and alone I am. You and the boys bring me fullness and happiness. I still want to share a life with you, if…if you still want that." He looked at her and searched her eyes for her answer._**

**_She was shocked. She thought she would have to do more convincing but she knew he was hurting just as much as she was and even more. "Of course that is still what I want. I want to wake up with you and go to bed with you every day and night for the rest of my life. So yes, Jason, I want to share my life with you."_**

**He held her tight; as if her were holding onto his lifeline. Who was he kidding, she was his lifeline. And he was hers.**

**"_Jason," she said with her eyes twinkling, "make love to me."_**

**No words were spoken. None had to be said. He lifted her up off the ground and into their bed. He kissed her passionately and reverently, knowing this was the beginning of their life together. Their life may not be perfect, but it was perfect enough.**


End file.
